Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The importance of having a co detector

Having a carbon monoxide detector installed in the home is definitely a life saver. Here we have yet another news story about how this device can save lives. Please read and learn and connect on Facebook or Twitter.

REXBURG, Idaho — It was a normal Sunday for Chris and Julia Marcum. They ate breakfast and spent some time playing with their young daughters before church.

What they didn’t know was there was an invisible danger lurking in their home and it’s likely a small detector saved their lives.

“At first I couldn’t really find what the noise was,” Chris Marcum tells EastIdahoNews.com. “We actually had recently purchased our carbon monoxide detector like a month and a half ago.”

The detector was left forgotten in the Marcum’s furnace room until Sunday, May 15 when carbon monoxide levels became life threatening and the alarm started to sound.

“My husband was like, ‘Everyone get out of the house,’” Julie Marcum says. “I got the baby up from her nap, grabbed the dog and my six-year-old was already outside crying. I think she thought our house was on fire.”

The Madison County Fire Department responded to the house and found the furnace was leaking carbon monoxide.

“It still feels kind of surreal – like we were actually in danger,” Chris says. “That day felt like just a normal day and there was nothing special about it. That’s how it would have felt even if we didn’t have it (the detector), I’m grateful that we did get the detector when we did.”

Madison County assistant fire chief Mikel Walker says this situation is a reminder of how important it is that gas appliances are installed properly and maintained.

“Make sure that your stuff is vented, your furnace is vented properly and your gas stove is vented if it has a chimney,” Walker says. “If your alarm goes off, open your windows, call the fire department, exit the house and protect yourself.”

The Marcum’s two-year-old daughter did get sick from the carbon monoxide but she has recovered and is doing well now.

The family says they’re grateful to be alive and hope those who don’t have smoke detectors will consider getting the life-saving tools.

Great news for Barrie in Canada with the fire service having been given more than 100 CO alarms for distribution to help with the battle against carbon monoxide. Install your sensor as soon as possible

(STAFF) – The Barrie Fire & Emergency Service received a special lifesaving delivery Friday morning.

The service received a donation of more than 100 carbon monoxide detectors courtesy of the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Barrie MPP Ann Hoggarth was on hand, along with the bureau’s manager of government relations, Matt Hiraishi, to do the honours at the service’s Dunlop Street headquarters.

The donation is part of an awareness campaign regarding the dozens of deaths each year in Canada attributed to the deadly gas.

In 2013, the province passed Bill 77- The Hawkins Gignac Act making CO detectors mandatory in all homes heated by fossil fuels, or have an attached garage.

The legislation was named in honour of Richard and Laurie Hawkins and their two children who died as a result of CO poisoning in 2008. Laurie Hawkins was an OPP officer. Their Woodstock home did not have a CO detector.

“What we are doing today reinforces Ontario’s role as this country’s public safety leader,” said Hoggarth. “Our message is simple: If you don’t have a CO alarm in your home, get one. It might end up being one of the most important decisions you make.”

The city fire service plans to distribute the detectors during an awareness week in October.

“As we head into the first long weekend of the cottage season, it’s important to remember that the only way to make the silent killer noisy is with a working carbon monoxide alarm,” said Barrie Fire Chief Bill Boyes, adding alarms should also should be installed at the cottage or trailer.

To date, Hiraishi said more than 60,000 alarms have been donated in more than 60 communities provincewide.

Facts:

More than 50 people die each year from CO poisoning in Canada, including 11 on average in Ontario
Residents have a responsibility to know about the dangers of CO and that an alarm is a good second line of defence, but not a substitute for the proper care and maintenance of fuel burning appliances.